Tapping into Technology

Those of us of a certain age, people that no one will ever mistake as a millennial, can be somewhat slow to embrace the latest technological advances. Yes, we may have an iPhone, but the only apps on its screen are those that came pre-loaded. The more daring of our crowd may have downloaded (or is it uploaded?) an app for that new-fangled Facebook thing. The less daring of us take great pride in our recently-discovered texting ability and consider emoji use to be quite cutting edge.

That is, until now.

We’ve just been made aware that there are websites and apps devoted to craft beer! Who knew? Well, who among the non-millennial crowd.

We’ve known about TapHunter for quite a while. It’s way cool and the BBC jumped on board not long after its 2016 launch. Each pub updates their list of beers-on-tap as they crack new kegs. The beers change frequently, so TapHunter is where you go to get the latest 4-1-1.

Newer to us older folks is Untappd, an app that is actually older than TapHunter. Like TapHunter, Untappd has info on what each BBC is pouring, but it also lets people weigh in with their thoughts on what they’re drinking. It’s like social media for beer drinkers. There’s also a “Nearby Events” section that shows you what’s happening in the world of beer near wherever you happen to be. While we love knowing when Cape Cod Beer, which is right in our neck of the woods, has stuff going on, we will admit to being mildly freaked out that our computer knows exactly where we are. Baby steps, people.

But wait. There’s more.

The BBC recently tapped into more technology with a SMS service. (We inserted a link because we figured if we had to Google “SMS” other people might also need to.)

When the BBC became one of only a few places in the U.S. to offer Samuel Smith on tap, we started sniffing around for more unique opportunities to introduce stellar Brit beers to the pubs.

So, we came up with a #FabFour concept – we do so love the Fab Four – to herald the arrival of an ever-changing selection of exceptional, tough-to-find English brews, many of which are available only in small batches.

If you’d like to be in the know when one of these beers is available at your local pub, sign up for alerts by texting FABFOUR to 33222 and you’ll get a text the minute it happens.